Dekmantel Podcast 305 - Roska

Much of dance music might have been on pause in 2020, but not Roska (@roskaroskaroska). The vital underground powerhouse has continued to put out a steady stream of high quality singles both solo and in collaboration with the likes of Syren Rivers, Ruby Wood and Serocee. He collected them all together this summer on Eight Trax, a mini album on his own Roska Kicks & Snares which tells the story of an artist who still finds freshness in UK funky having played a key part in its initial emergence over a decade ago. On top of this, he also assumed his Bakongo alias again recently to serve up his unique take on UK rhythms with the new 3 x 2 EP on Livity Sound, which comes after years of veering into UKG, house and various other mutant strains of bass heavy music on labels like Tectonic, Rinse and Hotflush. This week he digs deep to serve up a podcast filled with a mixture of his key influences and personal favourites. "The whole theme is how genres outside of dancehall have been influenced by dancehall," he says of a sunny selection including material from Sean Paul, Major Lazor, DJ Gregory, Kenny Dope, Karizma and DJ Zinc next to plenty of his now new beats old and new. It's a real history lesson that brings us right up to the present day and beyond.